Collegiate Times

"We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children," says a Native American proverb.

Besides the earth, is there anything else we actually borrow? We live in a throwaway society and I can't see my child wanting my rubber duck from Walmart, which will cost be more to store, than to buy another one again, in ten years. In fact, the packaging alone for the duck is part of the 1,242 pounds that the average American disposes of each year, which is up tenfold in the last 100 years. If we were to keep something like the rubber duck, it would be for sentimental value, because those emotional associations are worth more than any monetary value.

The emotional associations are worth more than the monetary value? How can the $1.99 duck have more sentimental value than the planet where I live?

I spend most days staring down at my iPhone typing an e-mail, losing all visibility of where I am and where I am going. I feel my rubber-soled shoes hit the pavement for the hundredth time of the day, losing all feeling of connectedness with the earth below me. I am reaching for my ham and cheese sandwich in my backpack, the one I think came from Kroger, but really contains meat and cheese that originated thousands of miles away. My point: We've lost all connection to what we do and how we do it. We are on this Earth for such a short period of time and we aren't living in the present with the goal of protecting the future.

Do you desire to positively change the world and leave a legacy? Most of us do, but why aren't we doing it right now? Maybe it's because this concept of "changing the world" is perceived as so grandiose that it must be impossible.

Let us break down this abstract concept with the infinite amount of time it would take to do it, into a concrete and finite piece of time. If we break down that phrase from an insurmountable task into tiny little pieces, like the time it takes to change the world, it becomes much more realistic. The way I see it, every action, every second of the day, is an opportunity to change the world.

And during this Sustainability Week, you have opportunities, at just about every hour, to not only learn, but to actively participate in the process. The Open Forum: Campus Sustainability Progress Report is Thursday, Oct. 15 at 5 p.m. in the Commonwealth Ballroom. I urge each of you to find your voice and help us make this school the best it can be.

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